NEW MARKET — All three Montgomery County track and field teams saw successful meets on Friday as Southmont hosted the 2022 Sagamore Conference track and field meet. Highlighting the night was the Southmont boys and Crawfordsville girls teams who both earned third place finishes. The Mountie boys scored 82.5 points to finish behind second place Lebanon (104.5) and conference champion Danville (134). The Athenian girls scored 95 points and edged out Lebanon (94) for the third place finish. Western Boone was the SAC champion with a 136 points on the girls side and Danville finished second with 112.
Conference champions for the CHS girls included senior Shea Williamson who went 4-4 as she ended her final conference meet as a winner in all four events she competed in. Williamson took first in the 100 meter dash with a time of 12.95, long jump with a distance of 16ft 9in, and was a member of the 4x100 and 4x400 teams who also took home the conference crown. Other winners for the CHS girls included Sophia Melevage in the 3200 meter run with a time of 11:58.31, and Riley Gardner in the high jump with a height of 5ft.
“It was a great night and our kids top to bottom performed about as well as they could have,” Crawfordsville coach Sean Gerold said. “Shea was amazing sweeping all of her events, Riley Gardner went 2-2 in her events and we just a good night and it was fun to see. You want to see performances like this at the end of the season and they did just that on a big stage.”
The CHS boys took home a tie for fifth place by scoring 85 points. It was highlighted by Ryan Miller who won the 3200 in a time of 9:53.38 which broke the school record. Tyson Fuller was the SAC champion in the 800 meter run winning in a time of 2:03.59, Nathaniel Million took second in the pole vault, and Max Brumett was third in the 1600 meter run.
“We had a ton of PR’s and a lot of second and third places tonight too,” Gerold added. “Some of these guys weren’t seeded to score. Kyle Fruits, and Nathaniel Busenbark all PR’d in the shot put and Cassie Bacon did the same thing in the discus. I have to give a ton of credit to our coaching staff. Coach Craig, coach Becker, coach Smith, coach Jones, and coach Elizondo all do a terrific job getting our kids ready. It’s a good group of people to be with and they make it fun.”
The Southmont boys saw the return of senior Trent Jones who looked he had never left as he raced to a SAC title in both the 100 and 400 meter dash. While Jones was the only conference champion for the Mounties they still had many strong efforts from the likes of Mason Cass who took second in the 1600 with a PR 4:43.44. Marlin Williams took third overall in the pole vault with a height of 10ft 6in. The Mounties 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams both took home third place finishes as well.
Over on the girls side for the Mounties they placed fifth with 59 points. Brianna Heninger was able to PR in the pole vault with a height of 9ft 6in and took home the conference crown for a second straight year with her performance. Faith Allen was second in the 3200 and third in the 1600, and Delorean Mason placed second in the 200 meter dash.
“Our guys have consistently finished in the top three the last few years and were able to do that again,” Southmont coach Desson Hannum said. “To have Trent back tonight obviously was important to us. Hopefully with sectionals coming up he’ll be able to continue to perform like we know he can. I think it was just a matter of him being a little tired. It takes very good team effort to be in the top three. Our girls were right about where I thought we’d be and the thing I’ll continue to say about them is they continue to keep getting better. For Brianna to re-peat in the pole vault is a really good feat by her.”
North Montgomery boys were the ones who tied with CHS for fifth place overall as the Chargers matched the Athenians 85 points. Gabe Laws and Ben Eldridge both had standout performances for the Chargers. Laws was the SAC champion in the 300 meter hurdles with a time of 42.15. Eldridge was the champion in the pole vault with a height of 11ft. Laws also finished second in the long jump. Elijah McCartney was fourth in the 3200, Tim Lueking also placed fourth in the 400 meter dash, and Owen Utterback also placed fourth in the 200 meter dash.
On the girls side the Chargers placed seventh with 42 points. Annabel Anderson was fourth in the 300 meter hurdles, Katie Rice took home third in the discus with a PR 101-03, Madi Welch was fourth in the long jump and the Chargers 4x800 team placed third.
“Overall we had a much better showing than we did at the county meet and that was our focus coming in,” Charger coach Josh Thompson said. “We talked to the kids about what it means to show up and compete and they took that to heart. Kudos to Gabe and Ben for their championships, they both worked really hard and had a great meet. There’s something to be said for how you respond and I’m proud of our kids for bouncing back.”
All three county schools will now gear up for the post-season as sectional week is here. The girls will compete first on Tuesday as North Montgomery and Crawfordsville will head to Harrison, while the Mounties make the trip to Zionsville. The boys will have a few extra days to prepare as their sectional doesn’t begin until Thursday. The Athenians and Chargers will compete at West Lafayette while Souhtmont will travel to Plainfield.
